Environmental Pollution 228 (2017) 416e424

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Environmental Pollution

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Through the sands of time: Beach litter trends from nine cleaned north cornish beaches*

* Andrew J.R. Watts a, , 1, Adam Porter a, 1, Neil Hembrow b, Jolyon Sharpe c, Tamara S. Galloway a, Ceri Lewis a a College of Life and Environmental Sciences: Biosciences, Geoffrey Pope Building, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, b Keep Britain Tidy, Elizabeth House, The Pier, Wigan, WN3 4EX, United Kingdom c Environment Service, Pydar House, Room 4A, , TR1 1XU, United Kingdom article info abstract

Article history: Marine litter and its accumulation on beaches is an issue of major current concern due to its significant Received 24 January 2017 environmental and economic impacts. Yet our understanding of spatio-temporal trends in beach litter Received in revised form and the drivers of these trends are currently limited by the availability of robust long term data sets. Here 18 April 2017 we present a unique data set collected systematically once a month, every month over a six year period Accepted 4 May 2017 for nine beaches along the North Coast of Cornwall, U.K. to investigate the key drivers of beach litter in the , and areas. Overall, an average of 0.02 litter items m 2 per month were collected during the six year study, with Bude beaches (Summerleaze, Crooklets and Widemouth) the Keywords: ± 2 Marine litter most impacted (0.03 0.004 litter items m per month). The amount of litter collected each month Plastic decreased by 18% and 71% respectively for Padstow (Polzeath, and ) and Bude areas over Fishing litter the 6 years, possibly related to the regular cleaning, however litter increased by 120% despite this Tourism monthly cleaning effort on the Padstow area beaches. Importantly, at all nine beaches the litter was Un-sourced litter dominated by small, fragmented plastic pieces and rope fibres, which account for 32% and 17% of all litter items collected, respectively. The weathered nature of these plastics indicates they have been in the marine environment for an extended period of time. So, whilst classifying the original source of these plastics is not possible, it can be concluded they are not the result of recent public littering. This data highlights both the extent of the marine litter problem and that current efforts to reduce littering by beach users will only tackle a fraction of this litter. Such information is vital for developing effective management strategies for beach and marine litter at both regional and global levels. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction persistent, manufactured or processed solid material discarded, disposed of, abandoned or lost in the marine and coastal environ- Marine litter is one of the most indiscriminate and pervasive ment” (UNEP, 2005). Beach litter has two main sources; it can pollution issues facing our seas and oceans today (Galloway and originate from the sea as a result of shipping, recreational boating, Lewis, 2016). Many recent studies have documented both the navigation, fisheries, aquaculture and other offshore activities, or it extent of marine litter throughout the world's coastal waters and can originate from land-based sources such as recreational activ- open oceans (e.g. Cozar et al., 2014; van Sebille et al., 2015) and the ities on the beach, rivers, from drainage systems (such as Combined damage that it can cause to marine wildlife via entanglement and Sewage Overflows (CSOs)), sewage inputs, as well as from anthro- ingestion (e.g. Wright et al., 2013; Cole et al., 2015; Watts et al., pogenic activities adjacent to the beach (domestic, agricultural, 2015). UNEP describes marine litter or marine debris as “any landfill, shipyards, harbours, etc.) (Gabrielides et al., 1991; Semeoshenkova and Williams, 2011; Kordella et al., 2013; Thiel et al., 2013; Fauziah et al., 2015; Schulz et al., 2015). Hence, litter on beaches can comprise a wide range of litter types including * This paper has been recommended for acceptance by Maria Cristina Fossi. various plastics, metal, timber and large items like fishing gear, and * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.J.R. Watts). come from a variety of sources. 1 Joint first authors. The issue of beach litter and marine debris has recently become http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.05.016 0269-7491/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. A.J.R. Watts et al. / Environmental Pollution 228 (2017) 416e424 417 an issue of heightened concern for both the general public and categorised into a number of simplified litter types. The classical policy makers due to the increasing evidence of the harm it can approach has just been to categorise litter by material (plastic, cause to wildlife and the socioeconomic implications that it causes timber, rope etc.). However, classifying by source or original user is for beach users and tourism. Plastic, a large constituent of marine a much more effective way of directing management strategies litter, has been found in the stomachs and entangled around towards stopping the problem at source rather than just measuring stranded whales (Jacobsen et al., 2010), turtles (Tourinho et al., it (Schulz et al., 2015). Common litter types now used typically 2010) and sea birds (Avery-Gomm et al., 2012). Economically, up include sewage-related debris, fishing-related litter, shipping- to 97% of a beach's value can be lost by a drop in cleanliness stan- related litter, beach user related litter (tourism or animal faeces), dards (Ballance et al., 2000). One study calculated that the eco- fly-tipped, and medical and then an ‘uncategorisable litter items’ nomic benefits for Orange County, California in the United States category for those items that are too fragmented or degraded to be associated with a 100% reduction in marine debris at all sites could allocated to an original source (OSPAR, 2009; Williams et al., 2003, be as much as $148 million and a reduction in only 25% could 2014). render as much as $32 million dollars to the economy (Leggett et al., The aim of this study was firstly to produce a unique data set 2014). from nine beaches around the north coast of Cornwall, U.K., using a In the U.K., beach litter abundances have risen by 20% between systematic method over a six year period using consistent litter 1994 and 2014 (Marine Conservation Society, 2015; Nelms et al., category definitions and undertaken by the same team of trained 2017). In the South West (in which our study beaches are situ- professionals on a monthly basis. The beach cleans conducted for ated), litter on beaches cleaned under the ‘Great British Beach this study were undertaken with source attribution in mind and Clean’ scheme was observed to be 89% higher in 2013 compared to thus work towards looking at root causes rather than just cleaning 2014 (Marine Conservation Society, 2015) with these beaches up. These beach cleans were done by hand to minimise any amongst the most littered in the U.K. (Nelms et al., 2017). The cost ecological damage associated with more mechanical methods. We of removing beach litter to all coastal municipalities in the U.K. is then use this high quality dataset to identify the driving factors of estimated to be in the region of V18e19 million per annum (Mouat marine litter on beaches in the South West of , identify any et al., 2010). The costs of marine litter goes further than just that of seasonal or annual trends in litter type and abundance and ulti- a clean-up effort,, as demonstrated by the Royal National Lifeboat mately to suggest how this knowledge can be applied to improve Institution (RNLI). In 2008, they made 286 rescue operations to beach litter management. vessels with tangled propellers costing the charity between V V 877,000 and 2,313,000 (Mouat et al., 2010). Furthermore, bea- 2. Material and methods ches provide social benefits and the presence of litter can under- fi mine the psychological bene ts of a visit to the beach (Wyles et al., 2.1. Beach cleans 2016). Managing beach litter and reaching targets for reducing both the environmental and economic impacts of litter and its clean-up Nine beaches on the coast were surveyed and requires a much better understanding of the current trends in both cleaned by the same five trained council workers during the first the types of litter present and their sources (Unger and Harrison, week of each month over a period of 6 years between January 2005 2016). and December 2011 using the recognised OECD guidelines (OSPAR, The factors affecting the accumulation of litter on beaches may 2010). The beaches chosen lie within a 60 km stretch of coast line vary with both location and season. To analyse beach litter trends in any detail requires long-term data sets with limited variation in the methodology applied over time and with little gaps in the data. Beach cleans have become a powerful and useful tool with which the academic community is beginning to engage with in order to gather large volumes of data about the state of our global shore- lines. The U.K. has a long heritage of beach clean efforts including 21 years of Beachwatch (Marine Conservation Society, 2015) clearing 150 tonnes of litter since 1994, Surfers Against Sewage's current commitment to reduce beach litter by 50% by 2020 (Surfers Against Sewage, 2014), and Keep Britain Tidy have accrued 15,000 volun- teer hours in cleaning beach in the South West (Keep Britain Tidy, 2015). The interaction of beach cleans and scientists is paramount as the data collected, if it is to be useful, is best done in a repre- sentative, systematic way with good aims and a robust standard method. Identifying the root causes rather than just managing the con- sequences of marine littering is clearly of critical importance if we are to improve the state of our seas and oceans. Most of the data currently available for understanding spatio-temporal trends in the accumulation of beach litter comes from beach cleans run by local authorities or charities using volunteers (e.g. Nelms et al., 2017). As a result, data is often collected by a large number of people, with different people collecting the data at each sampling time and/or location. Whilst this is a fantastic way to get a large amount of information for a wide area, and can produce useful insight into Fig. 1. Map of beach clean sites. North coast of the South West region of Cornwall, U.K. generalised trends, this understandably also introduces a level of Three areas: Bude area (Crooklets, Summerleaze, Widemouth); Padstow area (Pol- uncertainty and variability into any data set and often makes robust zeath, Trevone, Harlyn); Porthcothan area (Constantine, , Porthcothan). statistical analysis difficult. The litter collected is then generally Crooklets and Porthcothan beaches are 57 km part along the coastline.